Graining roll



wk 19, 1935. a. VON WEBIERN 9 945 GRAI'NING ROLL Original Fiied April19, 19:50

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Patented Mar. 19 1935 PATENT OFFICE GRAINING ROLL Guido von Webern,Dayton, Ohio, assignor to Oxford Varnish Corporation, Detroit, Mich., acorporation of Michigan Original application April 19, 1930, Serial No.445,576. Divided and this application January 22, 1934, Serial No.707,787

scams. (c1. nil-401.1)

This invention relates to pattern roll for printing designs such as woodgrain, marble and the like, and is a division of my copendingapplication, Serial No. 445,576, filed April 19th, 1930'. The essentialobject is to provide cylindrical form having thereon, in efiect, acircumferentially continuous pattern, in which the joint or joints ofthe pattern are substantially imperceptible. I

A further object is to provide an improved printing roll with asubstantially continuous pattern, that is, for all practical purposes, ajointless grained pattern.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved graining orprinting roll, having substantially the entire printing area thereofimage bearing, such image comprising grain or similar non-repeatinglines of varying prominence di-' rection and tone and having the patternjoined substantially along, the more prominent lines to provide asubstantially continuous pattern which, for all practical purposes, isjointle The requirements of ,pattem rolls for use withpresent-daygra-ining methods differ from the roll requirements occurringin textile, wallpaper and other similar types of work, in that thepatterns for textiles, paper, etc. are of conventional design, generallymore or less open, and the design units repeat, whereas there is norepetition of design in natural wood or marble. Joints in such rolls arereadily made either in open parts or by cutting the repeating units atidentical positions.

In preparing rolls for wood graining work-in the past, the joints in thepattern were made without regard to the design and the ends of thepattern were spaced a considerable distance apart and thespace'therebetween washand tooled subsequent to the etching of thepattern. The disadvantages ''of such a roll are numerous. First, thejoints were readily apparent; second, the hand tooled portion of theroll was at the best a futile reproduction of the photo-engraved portionand destroyed the advantages gained by such a photographic reproduction.

The roll of the present invention overcomes the disadvantages found ingraining rolls of the past.- The improved roll carries a photographical-1y reproduced pattern throughout its entire length.- This isaccomplished by providing the roll with a pattern which is joined alongthe more distinct 0 grain lines, as, for instance, in the case ofwoodhaving very distinct grain patterns, such as the flake of quartered oak,the pattern is joined to the flake lines. Where this is no longerpossible,

because the flake stops, the pattern is joined along diagonal orcircumferential lines. following the circumference of the roll,any partof the some dense grain lines or lines of sharp tonal variations, asmuch as possible, and joining the patternalong suchv lines or linesparallel thereto.

To better illustrate'the invention, I have shown the improved roll,together with a diagrammatic illustration of a manner on'which the rollmay be made in the accompanying drawing. In the drawing, Fig. 1 is aperspective view of my improved roll, the joint line beingdiagrammatically indicated thereon in heavy lines; Fig; 2 is a plan viewof a suitable sample, such as a wood board; Fig. 3 is a dividedphotographic print made from a selected area on the board; Fig.4 is aview showing the-two parts of the, print in partly overlying relation toeach other for matching and cutting; Fig. 5 shows the two sections ofthe print after the match cutting is completed; Fig. 6 is a view similarto Fig. 5, showing a special grain pattern; Fig. '7 is a view of theprint rejoinedalong the original severing lines; Fig. 8 is a perspectiveview of a roll of different dimension thanthatshowninFig.l.-' v.Referring again to the drawing, and first to Fig. 2, I have shown at 11a suitable wood sample, such as a finished board, having in general thedesired grain characteristics. It is' possible on a great many woodsamples to find about the same general grain characteristics at one partof the board as may be found in another. For example,

,o1' course, cover considerably more than the entire circumference ofthe roll, assuming the lines a: and 1! are 30" apart. Fig. 3 representsa print made from such a photograph of the area within the line 1:,which print has been severed at H, so that the two ends. which aresubstantially similar may be matched up by experimental cutting, such amethod as is claimed and described in my copending application,heretofore, men

tioned, or in any other manner.

It will be seen that if the two sections of the print of Fig, 3 arefastened on a matching board 4, face up with the severed'edges a and a ameasured distance from each other, equal to the lying between the linesb and b', Fig. 4, may be used to effect matching or registration of thegrain lines on the top section with those of the underlying section.Thismay be done by simply cutting back the top section to any distancewithin this zone of overlap of the two prints, until the desired matchis effected.

Matching and outlining may be carried out as described in my copendingapplication, heretofore mentioned. Briefly, the matching is done asfollows: One first turns back the uppermost free edges b for example,and finds prominent lines, such as tone lines, grain lines, or the like,which substantially coincide on both prints, and he now cuts along suchlines, as indicated at 6, where the grain lines are actually crossed,and at 7,- where the more prominent grain lines are actually followed.When following the prominent lines such as the grain lines, thedirection, of cut is determined by these lines alone and may be actuallyparallel to the edges a and a, but when crossing the grain lines, thecut is made diagonally for the most part because it is much less easy todetect a joint on a diagonal or' circumferential line than a joint on aline parallel to the axis of the roll, assuming the grain lines rungenerally.circumferentially.

This outline cutting, as mentioned, is largely a matter of experiment,and several cuts may have to be made before a satisfactory match hasbeenfound. For example, having found that the cutting'lines 6 and '7 onFig. 5 do not result in a true alignment of grain lines of asatisfactory grain line blending, another cut may be made as along 'thedotted lines 6, 7', reducing the length of the top section of the print,as will'be obvious. The limit of outing back the top section used toproduce the print, outlined and/or cut as above described, and which isalso marked in any suitable way as on the back side thereof to determinethe position of the grain thereon, may now be securedin the usual way tothe roll surface tobe etched. The outlined and/or out pattern printalso-marked similarly to the resist I may now be used to indicate on theresist where the etching should stop. For example, any suitable line maybe drawn on theresist or the blank portions of the roll, using the matchout or outline on the print as a pattern and the resist" at one side ofthe match line (toward the nearest margin) painted out carefully, aswith asphaltum, in substantial conformity to the outline of the print.The opposite end of the resist and theside margins are, of course, alsopainted out 'or'otherwise treated to protect the roll surface not to beetched. The surface of the roll within the protected area isnowetchedwith a. suitable agent. 1 1

In-the illustration shown, in Fig.6, it will be seenthat wood patternshaving very definite cross grain characteristics, such as quartered oak,

may be matched somewhat easier than plaim walnut or mahogany grain,which latter have print.

called flakes-of quartered oak are indicated at 10 on the top print and11 on the underlying The cutting lines in this case follows along theflakes, and as to the top print, the outing lines will follow along thatedge of the flake which istoward the free or inner edge of the topprint, whereas the flake on the print underneath is followed on the sideof the flake toward the free end of this under print. Thus, when theresists are properly applied to the roll and the roll etched, the graineffect will be a natural one and the joint practically invisible. The

same general principle as shown in Fig. 6 applies pattern will exactlycover a roll. Furthermore, two resists. that are, for example, cut orpainted out or otherwise more identical with the rejoined print, and areidentical in pattern will completely cover a cylinder, that is, onehaving a circumferential length equal to twice the dimension A of Fig.3. In either case thegrain at the ends of such resists willsubstantially match.

Assuming the resist has been properly located on the cylinder andproperly outlined, the roll surface underlying the resist is now etchedto the proper depth and fineness of tone. In case only part of the rollis covered, the copper at the ends of the-resist is protected by acoating of paint. Before applying a second resist to the oppositesurface of the roll, the roll is first cleaned of all the protectingpaint and the residue of the etching operation. The second resist doesnot. necessarilyhave to be outlined since the etched portions of theroll serve as a very deflnite guide. The previously etched surfaces, atleast at the two ends of the etched area, are, of course, covered withprotective paint before starting to each the second resist. From thispoint, the etching process, as previously outlined, may be repeated andafterward the entire roll is cleaned of etch residue and paint. Somehand tooling may have to be done where there are blank or unetchedspaces at the joints, but if the above steps are carefully followed,this hand tool-s,

ing is practically a negligible item. I

In the above detailed exemplary description it is assumed that theresist will cover either the entire or half the circumference of theroll. This, however, is not essential since the first resist may coverany portion of the rolLsay all but a few inches o'f the circumference,and theintervening space filled in by etching through a resist sectioncorresponding to ,any part of the original board taneously:

I may also select a subject having generally similar. grain areas spacedlongitudinallyof the board; but-which spacing does not bear'any; in--tegral relation to-the-circumferential length of the roll as does thepattern shown in the drawno suchpeculiar grain marks. In Fig. 6, the,soing. Suppose, for example, the generally simi-t 15 v p [1,994,598.lar areas are spaced a few inches less than the roll measurescircumierentially. In such case,

I start with a photograph and dividev it substantially as shown in Fig.2, but instead 01' overlapping the ends b and b as in Fig. 3, I thenfasten the opposite edges, a and a to the matching board, spaced exactlythe circumferential length of the roll, leaving the edges b and bseparated. Then a second print section is inserted between. the spacededges b and b; underlying both these, edges, The second print is madefrom any sample having grain characteristics generally similar to thoseat the ends of the divided strip. After this the match outlining may beaccomplished substantially as before, for example by cutting back bothedges b and b, until the grain lines of the two top print sectionsregister with the exposed grain lines on the print, underneath.Incidently, the second print may lie on top of the edges b and b, inwhich case this second print receives the match cutting. Afterward theprint forming the fill-in is properly marked to deter+ mine its positionon the roll. The two original print sections are then rejoined to form-apat-- tern for outlining one resist, and-the second print, which hasalso been marked for position is used to locate the resist properly onthe unetched portion of the roll.

The two resists thus formed completely cover the roll, and, assuming thedistance A has been measured accurately and the match cutting accurately performed, a. continuous pattern en'ect is obtained on the rollby etching, as above described. This variation of the method isparticularly valuable where the pattern eflects desired are formed ontwo separate board, marbla-etc.

- is jointless.

regular lines thereon of varyikng tones, said roll having the pa ternioinedalong W samples and/or where a non-repeating pattern is desired.

In special cases, I may also use the resist itself for the photographiccopy with which the match outlining is eflfected.

thereon a pattern simulating wood'grain, the

pattern being non-repeating and the grain lines throughout the entirecircumferencebeing un broken in simulation of natural woodgrain.

2. A graining roll having a photomechanically reproduction of a wood orsimilargrained article thereon. such reproduction being joined to form acontinuous non-repeating pattern,'- the joint being efiected atprominent lines in the reproduction whereby for practical purposes thepattern 3. Agraininlg roll having a reproduction of a natural objectthereon which object comprises a non-repeating pattern having'prominentirdirections and certain of said prominent lines to produce acontinuous' pattern circumferentially of the roll.

' GUIDO von WEBERN.

